MCCOY’S FITTING FINALE

IT IS perhaps fitting that Tony McCoy’s glittering journey ends today at Sandown, a stage which played host to one of his finest victories aboard Hennessy in the Bet365 Gold Cup six years ago.

Quite how McCoy, the 20-times champion jockey, managed to steer Carl Llewellyn’s charge past Briery Fox close to home is still hard to work out.

McCoy was only f ourth at the final fence, comfortably adrift after some unconvincing jumping.

Rather typically, McCoy played down hi s achievement in wrestling another victory from the jaws of defeat and, having been fortunate to watch the great man compete for the past two decades, his day-to- day voracity f or winners and enormous humility have been wonderful to witness. It is surprising that the great man will watch today’s Bet365 Gold Cup from the weighing room, but Mr Mole (Sandown, 3.15) and the suitably-named BOX OFFICE (Sandown, 4.25) look to hold excellent chances of providing a true legend with an emotional triumph on his final day.

Predicting what Mr Mole will produce is never easy, but he does at least like today’s track and the small field will be to his liking.

His yard have done a wonderful job turning him inside out this term, but SPECIAL TIARA will love the ground and the f i gures followers will point to his fine third in the Champion Chase being the best run of his career.

I am a huge fan of his trainer, Henry de Bromhead, who again illustrated at Aintree with Sizing Granite that he is a man to be respected on big days.

The eight- year- old Special Tiara has bright prospects of improving on his third place in this event 12 months ago.

The lightly-raced Box Office could go off at a ridiculous price, given the competitiveness of the Bet365 Handicap Hurdle.

In three UK starts he has looked to be a horse that would appreciate two and a half miles and it will be enthralling to see how he goes after promising efforts at Aintree and Cheltenham.